Faculty

NCBM-0185 Support for Contemporary Mathematics

Kristopher Marcus

Credit Spring 2026

Section(s)

NCBM-0185-003 (18049)
LEC TuTh 10:30am - 11:00am RRC RRC8 8210.00

Course Requirements

Welcome to Contemporary Math! All of the information you need is in Blackboard. We will explore various math topics. My goal is for you to leave this course as a confident, critical thinker and problem solver.

Prerequisites: Appropriate score on the TSI Mathematics Assessment.

Paired Course Policy: This is a paired course. Students who withdraw from NCBM 0185 will be automatically withdrawn from MATH 1332 and vice versa.

Readings

This is a First Day™ class. The cost of required course materials, including an online version of the textbook and software access, has been added to your tuition and fees bill.

Course Subjects

The following is subject to change without notice, but serves as a good reference:

Week	Sections	Material
1	1C	Sets and Venn Diagrams
2	1D,2A	Analyzing Arguments; Unit Analysis
3	Percent/3A	Intro to Percent
4	3A/3B	Uses and Abuses of Percentages
5	Review/Exam 1	Putting Numbers in Perspective; Index Numbers: The CPI and Beyond
6	3D, 3E	How Numbers Can Deceive
7	4A, 4B, 4C, 4D	Taking Control of Your Finances; Linear/Exponential Growth
8	4E, Review	The Power of Compounding; Savings Plans and Investments
9	Exam 2/5A, 5B	Loan Payments, Credit Cards, and Mortgages; Income Taxes
10	5C, 5D, 6A	Fundamentals of Statistics; Should You Believe a Statistical Study?
11	6B, 6C	Statistical Tables and Graphs, Characterizing Data; Measures of Variation
12	Review/Exam 3	The Normal Distribution
13	7A, 7B	Fundamentals of Probability, Combining Probabilities
14	7C, 12A	The Law of Large Numbers; Voting: Does the Majority Always Rule?
15	12C/D, Review	Apportionment: The House of Representatives and Beyond
16	Exam 4/Optional FINAL	Optional to replace a low or missing test

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Course Rationale

MATH 1332: This course is intended to provide non-mathematics and non-science majors with a survey of topics in mathematics. The emphasis may be towards developing students' quantitative reasoning skills, illustrating the beauty of mathematics as a discipline, and/or imparting a feel for the different ways in which mathematics is used. The students who take this course generally are in nursing, the liberal arts, communication, workforce programs, or some social sciences. This course may be used to satisfy the Core Curriculum and the General Education Mathematics requirements.

NCBM 0185: This course is intended to provide support to students who are taking MATH 1332 Contemporary Mathematics. It must be taken along with the paired section of MATH 1332.

MATH 1332 Course Objectives

Increase/improve your quantitative literacy.
Provide you with an opportunity to experience mathematics as an intellectual exercise and a way of thinking.
Provide you with an opportunity to appreciate the visual and intellectual beauty of mathematics.

MATH 1332 Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, a student should be able to:

Apply the language and notation of sets.
Determine the validity of an argument or statement and provide mathematical evidence.
Solve problems in mathematics of finance.
Demonstrate fundamental probability/counting techniques and apply those techniques to solve problems.
Interpret and analyze various representations of data.
Demonstrate the ability to choose and analyze mathematical models to solve problems from real-world settings, including, but not limited to, personal finance, health literacy, and civic engagement.
Understand that mathematics is an evolving discipline, interrelated with human culture, and understand its connections to other disciplines.

NCBM 0185 Course Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes

Provide an opportunity to increase/improve quantitative literacy.
Provide an opportunity to communicate mathematical ideas in a small group setting.
Provide just-in-time review of prerequisite arithmetic and algebra topics.

General Education Competencies

Communication Skills: Develop, interpret, and express ideas and information through written, oral and visual communication that is adapted to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.
Critical Thinking Skills: Gather, analyze, synthesize, evaluate and apply information for the purposes of innovation, inquiry, and creative thinking.
Empirical and Quantitative Skills: Apply mathematical, logical and scientific principles and methods through the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.